Insider-Trading Probe Widens

U.S. Launches Criminal Investigation Into Stock Sales by Company Executives

By

Susan Pulliam,

Jean Eaglesham and

Rob Barry

Dec. 10, 2012 8:33 p.m. ET

Federal prosecutors and securities regulators are taking a deeper look into how executives use prearranged trading plans to buy and sell shares of their company stock.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office has launched a broad criminal investigation into whether seven corporate executives cited in a recent Wall Street Journal article traded improperly in shares of their own company's stock, according to a person familiar with the...